Things You'll Need
Calculator
Tape measure
Pencil and paper
Recarpeting your house is no small task and is as much a financial undertaking as it is a physical undertaking. Determining the square footage covered in your house is only the beginning of the equation, as you need to make sure you calculate the waste that will exist from cutting corners, making edges fit and eliminating wrinkles. Calculating the carpet waste from reflooring a house is a fairly straigthtforward process and can easily be accomplished by any do-it-yourselfer.
Step 1
Measure the length and width of the room you are carpeting. Take into account any intricacies of the room itself, such as a rounded wall, excessive corners or a floor only partially covered with carpet.
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Step 2
Carpet comes in 12-foot, 13½-foot and 15-foot widths, so determine which width will work best for you (e.g., if your room is 20 feet wide, it is better to lay two 12-foot-wide carpet sections).
Step 3
Determine how much carpet you will need to buy to cover the entire room, multiply that amount of carpet by 0.10 and add that to the total amount of carpet to buy. Basically, take into account 10 percent waste over your initial figure.
Tip
It is sometimes helpful to lay out your room on a sheet of paper so you can get an idea of how it will look and exactly what intricacies in design it has.
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